For Whom The Bell Tolls
by slack-jawed cheese hugger
Summary: The worst part of seeing people's minds, Atsuki thinks, is not being able to tell who is sick and who isn't... //: slightly AU, slight spoilers
1. Chapter 1

Title: For Whom the Bell Tolls

Genre: Suspense/Horror

Rating: T (will go up to M soon.)

Main Characters: Atsuki, Liu Yee, Nami, Toma, that little kid that looks like Atsuki (can't remember his name)

a/n: preemptive STRIKE!

this one will probably deviate slightly from the main plotline insofar that i'm going to manipulate the characters into... well. you'll see.

it will probably be largely focused on Atsuki's perspective...

that's all i'm saying for now.

enjoy!

---

_All right, Atsuki, he remembers hearing Ray tell him, it's time._

_But what if I-- His own small voice, full of doubt and not yet cold or hard, chimed in uncertainly._

_I trust you._

Atsuki sat straight up in bed, clutching the right side of his face, his nails digging so deeply into his skin that they were drawing blood. After a moment or two he realized that it was his hand causing him such pain and withdrew it slowly. He gazed at it, detatched, frowning down upon his own hand as if it disappointed him. "Trust, huh?" he mused aloud._ Is that what I'm missing?_

His cell phone vibrates suddenly in his pants pocket, still on from last night. He jumps and flips it open, holding the phone with the bloody hand as he gets up and starts to gather the pieces of his school uniform with the other.

"Good morning, Atsuki," comes Nola's coice from the speaker. "We have the results back on that Silent you retrieved from Miss Yayoi..."

---

a/n: this is probably going to develop into something fairly large. i'll probably post a bit like this every morning or so. however, starting next week i have finals until nearly the end of may, so it may be slightly sporadic.

i'll do my best!


	2. Chapter 2

Some days- not every day, mind you, but some days nonetheless- Atsuki wonders if it's really him reading the Shinen and not the other way around.

And when it's one of those days, sometimes he's too deep in thought to really shut ∑ off completely.

Were he properly rested, he would not have gazed into this region of Sayuri Makino's mind while half-paying attention to what he wa drawing in Art Class, and would not have been overtaken by a deep-set arachnophobia.

Suddenly he is deeply afraid of spiders- they are deadly and disgusting and when he looks at one he wants to vomit and recoil, scream and cry, all at the same time. He is suddenly beset by every spider Sayuri has ever seen- the huge back one when she was eight, and the daddy long-legs that used to live in the corner of her elementary school classroom, and the garden spider last night perched on her white-painted windowsill, silent and perfectly still.

It is a transparent almost-brown- _he can see its __insides_- and gathering up her courage, she takes the blanket and smacks at it once- it starts to skitter away, unharmed- twice- it is writhing in agony, and his fear of it increases tenfold as he sees its leg, still twitching, coming out of its head- a third time, and a fourth, and she flings the blanket away from her, bravery spent, as she scrambles out of her room and down the hallway, tripping and falling on the hardwood floors, because never mind the fact that she is hundreds of times larger than it, the spider is going to _kill her_--

"_Saijo!"_

He snaps back to reality. He has fallen backwards with his chair to the floor, and now he is sprawled haphazardly, legs in the air as he tries to regain his bearings. He had thrown the charcoal down onto the floor, and it is broken into two or three large pieces; he has upset his easel. It fell at such an angle that the half-dead spider from her memory, which he had drawn without knowing, is fully visible to Makino.

She sees it, turns white, makes a choking sound, and passes out.

---

a/n: just setting the tone for the moment. the plot will come later, yeah?

does anyone know how to have honoka NOT kill kiryu? it's bothering me...


	3. Chapter 3

Before now, Atsuki had never felt any inclination to misuse his powers. It was simply unnecessary, so that had been plenty for him.

Until now.

These days he found himself using ∑ more and more often to see people's minds when he didn't really need to. He was beginning to see why many telepaths went mad; there were too many things in a mind that spoke of madness to not feel a touch of that insanity oneself.

The beetles-on-paper feeling of someone trying to read his mind was almost constant at school now that Kiryu knew he had powers as well, and he was constantly having to fend off the mental probe. However, one morning he was caught with his guard down, and before he knew what was going on he was smashed over the head with a wave of his own feelings, drawn from his memory, that Kiryu was reading- a sad, painful tightness in his chest when he saw Natsuki; the coiling thing in the pit of his stomach when Liu Yee had once walked in on him as he was leaving the shower and he'd seen his eyes flash and darken with what he hadn't consciously recognized was a deep, barely restrained lust until later, in his bed, as he replayed the incident over and over in his head; the swift, smooth flicker of Nami Kamishiro's thoughts that one time he'd read her mind; the dread that had his heart leaping into his throat when he saw Arthur Mays perched on the railing of the Seagull building's roof; the sharp, unexpected spike of—

Atsuki felt himself sway under the emotional stress before his training kicked in and he snapped up his barrier, terminating the probe with a suddenness that left his mind ringing like an empty, smooth concrete building, the heavy metal door to which having just been slammed shut with a thunderous bang that echoed off the walls and into infinity. His vision slowly crept back to normal as he shut down ∑, taking care to hold his barrier firmly in place. It was beginning to dawn on him how taxing the invasion just now had been. _That Yoshiya guy might be a serious threat_, his conscience whispered at the back of his mind. _You should tell Headquarters._ He ignored the nagging feeling that he should be more worried than he already was, shoving it down as he was called on to stand and recite another poem for Ms. Aoi.

A quick glance at the blue-haired teen confirmed what Atsuki had guessed. His classmate looked slightly dazed, as if he had stood up too fast, except for the part where he was sitting down in a chair. It was somewhat satisfying for him to know that their little 'battle' had taken a lot out of Kiryu, just as it had from him. He should be of little consequence for a bit, for which Atsuki was thankful.

- - -

_**Kill**_**,** murmured the mind of a tallish teenage girl with light brown hair in a ponytail, as she left the train station and began to head towards the parking lot. _We should __**kill them**__._

_Not __deserving__…_

_Disgusting humans, __go away__!_

_Take the responsibility._

_Make the world __**better.**_

_**Protect**__** the world**__ from the influence of humans._

Super-virus? Maybe…

_Bomb_

_Stay __**emotionless**_

_Duty, it's my duty_

_**Get rid of them.**_

So pitiful…

_Can't let go until I've __**done my part…**_

Atsuki's brow furrowed as he scraped her mind for Silent, but came up with nothing. She had no Silent at all, and yet, these thoughts…

The next person to leave the building was a small girl with green hair, and her mother. The little girl was thinking about her doll that was in the car, and the mother was thinking about how tired she was for a moment before she saw the brunette girl and her thoughts rippled and changed, solidifying and rising to the top of her consciousness.

Her **aura**…

_Dark red, like __**blood**__._

_**Keep away**__ from her._

_**Keep Sakiko away**__ from her._

_Strange girl… Wonder __**why**__?_

_So much __pain__ in her heart_

_Painful to see_

_Help…_

_Gotta be __**strong**__!_

_Strong! Be __**careful**__!_

Stay away

He started. The woman had some sort of powers. What was it about Kisaragi City that attracted people like her?

Atsuki was startled out of his reverie by his phone buzzing in his pocket. Heart beating suddenly faster, he yanked it out and opened it. "Hello?" he called, voice rasping from disuse. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Hello?"

"Atsuki, there's a strange Shinen over in Area 2. It's moving pretty fast!" Natsuki sounded serious, snapping him out of his momentary confusion as his mind began to clear. "Go get it before it disappears!"

"All right. I'm on my way." He snapped the phone closed, yanked his coat tighter around himself, and strode off.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: sorry this has been so long in coming. i've been lazy.

please to not kills me. ;3

* * *

_"And the rain was brain-colored._

_And the thunder was like something remembering."_

--Stan Rice

* * *

"Ugh, I'm beat. I totally need another vacation," moans Aya Nagashima, dragging her hands down the sides of her face in mock horror.

Her comment somehow rings a bell at the back of Atsuki's mind, reminding him that he has not slept for the last three days. This strikes him as strange in a nostalgic, 'i've-seen-you-before-hello-thought-how-are-you-would-you-like-to-come-in-for-tea' sort of way which surely should have been disturbing but is not for whatever reason. Perhaps his brain is turning against him and he just hasn't realized it yet, he muses absently as the chief of police stumbles about her office looking for her cell phone which she has misplaced.

Atsuki just stands there, ever the patient boy who is a man and is just a persona, stoic as thoughts of nothing and no one was hover him like waves on a beach, calm and collected. _It's like Commander Ray once said: 'When the spiders return to their webs we will look them in the eye and we will say-'_

"Oh, here it is." He snapped back to attention just in time to watch Aya try to sit up and whack herself on the desk. "Ow! Anyway, as I was saying... You're done here, go home. You look exhausted." Atsuki looked at her blankly and she raised her eyebrows, making a flapping motion with her hands as if fending off large, invisible moths. "Go on, shoo. Get out of my office. You're done for tonight; I'll call you if I need anything." He still looked lost so she sighed and steered him bodily out the door. "Go back to your flat, kiddo," she told him, speaking slowly as one would to an invalid or someone who could not speak English. "You. Home. Go. Now."

She ended up having a police officer follow him home, just in case.

- - -

It was dark.

Seeing as it _was_ 2:34 AM this was obviously to be expected, but it was still somewhat unnerving. Atsuki tried not to let it get to him, listening to the complicated music coming rom his headphones, staring into the dark, and let his mind begin to relax its tight hold on his emotions.

Today had been particularly taxing, a tiring day in a long line of tiring days. He was, mind you, conditioned to deal with such things, but there was a limit to his resistance, and he was fast approaching that limit.

He had crossed paths with Liu Yee earlier on his way to area 7. He had 'heard' Lancelot's growling before he actually saw the taller male.

_Immediately he noticed something different. Usually, Liu Yee wore his Lancelot as a brooch of sorts on his collar, but today he had it actually hanging from his ear, as it was originally intended to be worn._

_It looked... good._

(Atsuki felt heat rise to his face, and found himself glad for the darkness.)

_At the time he had been too stunned to stop Liu Yee from scanning him. The feeling of the other man's ∑, not unlike someone running their hands through your hair and then tugging slightly, failed to register for nearly fifteen seconds, by which time it was too late._

_Liu Yee smirked. "You know, Atsuki, most people would call having that sort of thoughts about another man homosexuality."_

_Atsuki growled and forced him out of his mind. His scalp still tingled slightly, which was above and beyond distracting. "What the hell do you want?"_

_The other's beetle-black eyes glinted mischeviously. "Just checking in on my favorite little field operative before he goes to bed for the night." He leaned in closer to whisper in Atsuki's ear, earring bouncing against his cheek. "Sometimes I pass your flat on patrol... Let's just say you have very 'loud' dreams."_

_Atsuki glared hotly at the side of Liu Yee's face as he retreated, smirked, and then clapped him genially on the shoulder. "Sleep tight, **Atsuki-chan**," he had taunted before slinking away, the shadows closing behind him._

And now he couldn't sleep. Atsuki flopped backwards onto his bed, spread-eagled, and shut his eyes for a moment, trying to remember what it was he used to do for fun before FORT, when there was a weak knock at his door.

He opened the door to find nobody, and was about to close it when he heard a low voice.

"He wasn't alone."

Atsuki's eyes widened as he turned, feeling trapped in slow motion, to see an exhausted-looking Liu Yee leaning heavily against the doorframe, sweating like he had just run a marathon, and clutching his left arm like he thought it would fall off.

"I tracked him to outside AMS Bank. He was there, waiting..."

The air became syrup as Atsuki fought to reach out in time, to catch Liu Yee as he fell, slumping limply, into his arms.

Somehow he managed to drag the unconcious man onto his bed, removing his shoes, socks, and vest, and unbuttoning the collor of his white button-down oxford shirt so he could breathe better. He dabbed at the sweat covering his face and neck gently with a towel before sitting back to watch him sleep.

Strange, that someone who seemed so old and wise upon waking would seem so much more his age, a mere boy of (sixteen? nineteen? perhaps) when asleep. Atsuki laid aside his thoughts, his spiders and his clutter, and turned the lights off as he left his mind for the night.


End file.
